Surfury

[chris grayer]

I have been able to re-instate the website dedicated to "Surfury" www.surfury.co.uk that fell over when I moved to the USA earlier this year - the site needs updating and I invite all with any news of what has happened to her since the demise of Basildon. Also any old photos lurking in collections would be welcome.

Any photos of other Levi designs or Souter built craft would be specifically welcome

Surfury must not be allowed to die - she is arguably the most important offshore craft that has not had its future secured.

I also want to include links to any other restoration projects that are being undertaken.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Chris

[Carl]

where is she now ?

[Delta28]

where is she now ?

Hi Carl

We (The Classic Offshore Powerboat Owner's Club - though ya don't have to own one to join!) have looked into this quite alot with Ricky Gardner, Charles Gardner's son. Ricky used to race Delta, Surfury's sister Levi

Apparently Surfury was left "in gift to the nation" by Charles and as such is owned and controlled entirely by the National Maritime Museum. They have neither the room, funds, or wide enough interest from the public to do anything with her at present.

If suitable secure premises could be found for her, then she may be considered for display on loan. What they need is enough interest and funding to warrant this and for any future restoration work, which they would no doubt want to supervise and be in control of.

It would have been fantastic to have had her on display at Cowes this year.

We think that she's been taken to museum storage sheds at Erith, in Kent, but that's subject to confirmation.

Personally, I'm right behind anything that can be done for this beautiful craft.

Thanks Chris, for all that you are doing.

[Delta28]

For any young 'uns that don't know what she looks like.....

All courtesy of Graham Stevens and available to view on the Surfury website or Boatmad Gallery

[Catweazle]

last days at bassildon.

[Catweazle]

Last days of Bassildon

[amott]

Pic's of Surfury and Trident the day we moved Trident out.

[Alacrity]

Very sad sight this is to me. As a member of the CMBA we held an annual 'dry meet' there every Feb/March inc. a committee meeting in the library, it was lovely being surrounded by so much history. I believe they have spent 1000'sss on the Watt Tyler Park now, shame they couldn't have done it when the museum was running.

[amott]

Here are a couple of pic's I forgot to post earlier. One shows the oil that has leaked ino Surfury's bilges. There is a school of thought that says this can cause a lot of damage if it gets into the wood laminates.

[littlenige]

It will be verging on criminal if she isn't released into the public's hands if you ask me. I would have thought some kind of Trust could be set up in light of the demise of things at Basildon. And Ian I totally agree - she would have made a marvellous contribution if she'd been on display at Cowes. She is an icon of the sport and is so rightly held in high regard - not only because of her success, but also her outright beauty.

[COLIN C BUSHELL]

Hi Carl

We (The Classic Offshore Powerboat Owner's Club - though ya don't have to own one to join!) have looked into this quite alot with Ricky Gardner, Charles Gardner's son. Ricky used to race Delta, Surfury's sister Levi

Apparently Surfury was left "in gift to the nation" by Charles and as such is owned and controlled entirely by the National Maritime Museum. They have neither the room, funds, or wide enough interest from the public to do anything with her at present.

If suitable secure premises could be found for her, then she may be considered for display on loan. What they need is enough interest and funding to warrant this and for any future restoration work, which they would no doubt want to supervise and be in control of.

It would have been fantastic to have had her on display at Cowes this year.

We think that she's been taken to museum storage sheds at Erith, in Kent, but that's subject to confirmation.

Personally, I'm right behind anything that can be done for this beautiful craft.

Thanks Chris, for all that you are doing.Sirs, I was sad to read the news about Surfury Possiblly rotting away in a shed in Kent? Now if i won the lottery this week(IF ONLY) I would fund a " SAFE HOUSE" and full restoration of this beautiful offshore icon. I well remember as a lad watching SURFURY pound round Portland bill in the Cowes /Torquay, Her Daytonas sounded awesome! And with so many classic powerboats being restored and even raced or demo ie: UNO EMBASSY, both DRY MARTINIS, THUNDERBOLT etc Even RED FPT is a classic in my books! And look what Fabio has achieved in her after buying her beck and restoring her to full racing trim! Some wealthy Buzzi type powerboat builder could take up this challenge and restore Surfury back to her full racing condition, Even getting her back on the water would be a fantastic step in the right direction! So come on Chaps lets see this classic boat from the 60s back on the water again. SURFURY MUST NEVER DIE!

[Rob Gray]

It would be great to restore such a legend and I would even look at it myself. I fear, however, from experience (a close friend was Chariman of the Cutty Sark project) that such a project would almost certainly occupy Boatmad blog for years to come with strong diversity of heated opinion as to how it should be executed. First it is owned by a trust (?) which will have a trust deed and possibly restricted authority as to ability to sell or divest. Secondly, would she be restored to full operational and seaworthy condition or only as a static exhibit? - you would be surprised how divided opinion would be. i.e. what if she raced again and was lost - would that be a criminal act and she should never have been in a place of jeopardy? - or would it be a fitting end Viking burial? Thirdly, to render her operational and seaworthy again would require losing a great deal/most of the original fabric of the boat. The glues of that era (Cascamite and Cascofen and others) simply give up - a friend is restoring a 50ft cold-moulded sailing yacht of that era and has to entirely re-laminate the hull. He bought a shape/mould effectively. Surfury would almost certainly need the same and you would effectively end up with a new hull - is this still Surfury like Bentley #1? Or a facsimile? Is an entirely rebuilt Endeavour 1 J Class an original or a facsimile/recreation? Fourth, what engines would you run? You could conserve and mount the original machinery in a museum - but what do you run - period or modern? Does it matter?

There is no real answer to these conundrums and all views could claim to be right. With Cutty Sark there are those who claim that she should have been rebuilt and put back to sea and the heritage is in the shape. Others cry travesty and any and all original material should be kept. The oucome is she is being conserved and mad structurally sound with new material only where necessary. Gipsy Moth IV was pulled out of Greenwich and underwent an entire rebuild (twice) and was lately operated by the UKSA - who are now selling her - because she is not suitable for their uses - nor was she suitable for Chichester but that is another story.

So smarter people that me will have better views - but even with my modest restoration of Uno-Embassy there was disagreement from some at going back from 403 to her original 717 of three years prior and of going from thunderbird back to Uno-Embassy. And she has nothing like legacy of Surfury. Frankly it will be hard to persuade anyone to fund a static rebuild - other than perhaps HLF.

Finally, it would be far cheaper and far quicker to build a new recreation of Surfury. But what would that achieve other than tribute?

Best wishes to all.


Rob G

[Delta28]

Some very good points raised there, Rob.

I once missed a Red Funnel ferry and went over to see Miss Great Britain III in Southhampton Maritime Museum (that lovely old medieval wool store opposite) when she was there...

Fantastic machine with a huge leather-bound, spoked steering wheel and tiny windscreens like the old Bentleys... she was made of aluminium frames with each ally panel hand-screwed / bolted in brass (Graham will know more than me!) With her single Napier Lion (i think?!) aero engine (W configuration) she took on the might (and length!) of Gar Wood's Miss America IX and X in the early 1930's... one of which had 4 x Packard aero engines! She was only-just beaten in the Harmsworth Trophy... See Kevin Desmond's "Powerboat Speed"

Anyways... saw her a few years ago at Greenwich, all restored and shining like a new pin.
She didn't look old. She looked like she was built last week. If you're gonna do that, then retore the engine and let's get her on the water!

Same dilema with Surfury... I suppose you can fit bouyancy bags to make (fairly!) sure she doesn't sink... but structurally? Would you want to push her too hard? Might have an equal dilema with my old Aronow Magnum.. (one day, Graham!)

A replica "Surfury II" just wouldn't be the same...There is only one Surfury.

What we really need, is to acquire an old boatshed (like Souter's) or a warehouse in Cowes...though some will want it on the mainland (Beaulieu?). That's the main problem with powerboat racing...we never seem to agree on anything! ...and to go from there.

I'm sure Cowes would stand a chance of getting the backing of the council... or you expand the small craft museum near Newport.

I'm sure this subject will polarise opinion! Let's see...

Regards, ian

[Delta28]

In a similar vein to your comments about the Cutty Sark... How much of HMS Victory is original?! Very little of the outer hull and rigging, I would suspect.

As to the old raceboats...Purists would want them "stuffed and mounted", romantics want to see them on the water, realists "can't justify the expenditure" and cynic's don't give a stuff about the old boats anyway...

If I won the lottery I'd have Adam Younger design a big Endurance version of one of his wicked-looking class III boats, with a cabin-top like Sufury (to give good protection in a stuff!), Tommy Sopwith's race number 400, navy blue with pale blue deck ..and call it "Spirit of Cowes" (AND restore the Magnum)

Well, I can dream, can't I?

[Delta28]

I would have thought some kind of Trust could be set up in light of the demise of things at Basildon

COPOC have looked-into this and I'm afraid a Trust is only ever going to be able to influence in an advisory / fundraising capacity. The Museum will always have the ultimate say in anything to do with Surfury.

That said, I'm sure we could also provide volunteers for skilled (and not-so-skilled!) labour, under Museum supervision, of course.

With the offer of financing and assisting with restoration, we could perhaps apply gentle pressure on the museum to do something about her condition.

[tiggy_cat]

With the demise of Basildon, surely it is not just Surfury whose future is in question, but lots of the other exhibits

[tiggy_cat]

Apologies but my first post went off before it was meant to. below is want I wanted to explore

With the demise of Basildon, surely it is not just Surfury whose future is in question, but lots of the other former exhibits. If it were possible to recreate a similar setup to Basildon, presumably the NMM could be persuaded to "loan" Surfury on an extended basis as before. Also, perhaps the owners of some of the other exhibits could be similarly persuaded.

It just strikes me that debating how to renovate her or "how to get her going again" is a waste of time in the present situation. Isn't the priority to get her and any other items to a "place of safety"

Just to start a bit of a debate off: I live in Northampton which is about as far from the sea in any direction as you can get. BUT it is at the centre of the motorway network if you are trying to attract visitors. The local authority is currently spending a great deal of money creating a new marina in the centre of town for the inland water crowd. Has lots of adjacent land you could build a nice museum on? Can't be the only place like that. Only needs a bit of imagination ans perhaps drumming up a bit of viable finance.

For example, have Carlsberg Lager every had any connection with offshore racing? They have a massive brewery here and are very public spirited. Anyone else think of a company with a similar profile in their locality who might welcome a relocated museum.

As well as the physical exhibits , it would be interesting to know what Basildon intends doing with the large amount of archive materials that I believe they held. Be a shame for that to end up in a skip somewhere.

[Martin The Talker]

Apologies but my first post went off before it was meant to. below is want I wanted to explore

With the demise of Basildon, surely it is not just Surfury whose future is in question, but lots of the other former exhibits. If it were possible to recreate a similar setup to Basildon, presumably the NMM could be persuaded to "loan" Surfury on an extended basis as before. Also, perhaps the owners of some of the other exhibits could be similarly persuaded.

It just strikes me that debating how to renovate her or "how to get her going again" is a waste of time in the present situation. Isn't the priority to get her and any other items to a "place of safety"

Just to start a bit of a debate off: I live in Northampton which is about as far from the sea in any direction as you can get. BUT it is at the centre of the motorway network if you are trying to attract visitors. The local authority is currently spending a great deal of money creating a new marina in the centre of town for the inland water crowd. Has lots of adjacent land you could build a nice museum on? Can't be the only place like that. Only needs a bit of imagination ans perhaps drumming up a bit of viable finance.

For example, have Carlsberg Lager every had any connection with offshore racing? They have a massive brewery here and are very public spirited. Anyone else think of a company with a similar profile in their locality who might welcome a relocated museum.

As well as the physical exhibits , it would be interesting to know what Basildon intends doing with the large amount of archive materials that I believe they held. Be a shame for that to end up in a skip somewhere.

I think Carlsberg sponsored the ill-fated Toleman team in the 1984 RB Race. The Carlsberg car sank in St.Georges Channel !

[Jon Fuller]

The Carlsberg car sank in St.Georges Channel !

Not surprising if they tried to race it without the aid of a ferry.

[the edge]

I think they also sponsored Graham Peck ? in the late 80's in a 27 foot Cougar cat

[Martin The Talker]

Not surprising if they tried to race it without the aid of a ferry.

Sorry - car should be "cat", as in catamaran !
I know I'm a useless typist !

[Iain May]

Found this in RAF wroughton during the summer.

[Delta28]

Good to see her somewhere safe (..and dry!)

Curious about RAF Wroughton, I found this on Multimap:

RAF Wroughton (Science Museum Swindon)
RAF Wroughton, just south of the village, closed in the 1990s and is now the Science Museum Swindon, a part of the National Museum of Science and Industry and used as a storage site occasionally open to the public.

Thanks for passing-on the location and for the pictures Iain..

[Alacrity]

One of the CMBA members who lives near Wroughton went to see them a couple of years ago about the Basildon collection & whilst interested, they were not able to help with much as they are only really interested in 'one off's' or the 'first of's' but it is good to know that Surfury (which fits the bill on both counts) is there as she is, if nothing else, safe & dry.


As well as the physical exhibits , it would be interesting to know what Basildon intends doing with the large amount of archive materials that I believe they held. Be a shame for that to end up in a skip somewhere.

The library is safe, if a little split up at the moment. Nothing has been lost or got rid of, in theory at least. It is I believe, all destined for the bunker in Salcombe see THIS THREAD (http://boatmad.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15537)

[the edge]

I wonder what else from the museum is stored at Wroughton ? did I see a picture on here of Unipart John Yeomans Cougar cat at Basildon ?

[tiggy_cat]

Think this is what you are referring to. This was there just before the museum closed I believe

In the view from the rear left, you can see the nose of another nice offshore style boat, Apache if memeory serves correctly

[littlenige]

Ian states that as a gift to the nation that Surfury is owned and controlled entirely by the National Maritime Museum. Shame that. If you view their site and search on the word 'Surfury' the result is:-




"We're sorry, there are no objects in our database that match your search."